(IDEX Online) - Israel's diamond sector has lost $300m in profit to coronavirus, says Yoram Dvash, president of the country's Diamond Exchange.
Trade has declined by 90 per cent, he told the news agency Reuters, and deals worth $1.5bn during March and April were wiped out by the pandemic.
Israel is the world's fifth-biggest diamond-trading nation, with the sector accounting for nine per cent of all exported goods in 2019.
Mr Dvash (pictured), who is also acting president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, said banks were providing the industry with credit lines totaling $850m, and the government was under pressure to raise that figure to $1bn.
He predicted prices would be much as before COVID-19 when trading returned to full strength.
Polished diamond prices have already shown the tentative signs of recovery, with the IDEX Online price index rising 0.7 per cent in April, from a low point towards the end of March, and continuing that increase during May.
Trading halls at The Israel Diamond Exchange, with 15,000 employees, were subjected to lockdown restrictions in mid-March, allowing no more than 10 people to gather. It is due to re-open properly on 24 May.